Original Phone Hacker Ordered to Name Names

The British phone hacking scandal is going to potentially explode in the next three weeks. The private investigator at the heart of the scandal has been ordered to name who commissioned him to intercept voicemail messages for Rupert Murdoch's now-closed News of the World.

The British phone hacking scandal is going to potentially explode in the next three weeks. The private investigator at the heart of the scandal has been ordered to name who commissioned him to intercept voicemail messages for Rupert Murdoch's now-closed News of the World.

The Guardian reports five British Supreme Court judges ruled unanimously against Glenn Mulcaire's request to remain silent over who exactly at News of the World asked him to participate in phone hacking. Mulcaire has three weeks to answer questions from Nicola Phillips, the personal assistant to publicist Max Clifford who has said her voice mail was hacked. Mulcaire's answers could, "open the way to further disclosures about the names and stature of the people who supervised [Mulcaire], raising speculation that new disclosures would show the extent to which the scandal reached into The News of the World management," explains the New York Times.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Connor Simpson is a former staff writer for The Wire. His work has appeared in Business Insider and City Lab.